Monday, December 27, 2010

Boss Hogg 2012 - Ha!

Much of the time, he has used the plane to go to fundraisers for himself and other Republican candidates and committees, to football games and to at least one boxing match — travel that has a less obvious connection to what Barbour, a former top lobbyist in Washington, has cast as his lobbying on behalf of his state. … The flight logs obtained by POLITICO indicate that Mississippi has spent more than $500,000 over the past three years on Barbour’s air travel. That total does not include security and other logistical costs associated with his trips. [...]

Barbour has reimbursed the state for a handful of flights, but he has more often scheduled obscure official business to coincide with the business of politics, according to the manifest and logs.

Nothing particularly new about this sort of scam. It's SOP for political execs, particularly corrupt southern GOPers, but I've shared Josh Marshall's amusement with The Village fascination over a potential run by Barbour. Seriously, from "the confederate flag signed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis near his desk," to his uncanny resemblance to Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazard, the man is the living image of a "Good Ole Boy Republican Fat Cat."

He plays well in Mississippi, but not even the relentless support of Fox Noise and the entirety of Teatopia could make him a national contender.